i realised many things from this trip to china. the most obvious being i'm a chinese by mistake. God has a sense of humour. for one..i don't appreciate chinese food..i hate garlic and ginger (which are pretty essential in chinese cuisine) and i don't speak the language. maybe not so much of the latter..it's more like..i can't think in the language..thus hindering my speech. (:
let me start with the cons of going to china. (haha) 1. i missed jason 2. i missed my granny 3. the public toilets were mostly horrendous. they have doors that can't be locked, and the cubicles usually have short walls so really tall rude ppl can peep over if they wished too..but thank goodness i never met such ppl! (: 4. the driving was bad. the roads were rough (including the airport runway..but i'll get to that later)..and i came to the conclusion the puking is the best way to cure any car-sick-ness anyone may feel. trust me on this. also..the chinese drivers drive like they own the road..and very often..our poor ears were tormented by the constant sounding of horns. also..the chinese adopt the american way of driving (right or left hand? whichever!!!) but they drive on both sides of the road..whereever there's space. hence the honking of horns!!! 5. the internal flights were pretty scary cos the airport runways are bumpy..so landings and taking off-s were tough.. 6. the f-ing chinese!!!! they push and shove at the various attractions, walk in front of the camera when you're OBVIOUSLY trying to take a picture, speak like everyone's deaf..and are mostly an unpleasant bunch to hang ard. 7. the shopping. there was nothing worth buying..(though plenty to appreciate). 8. the walking. i think i've walked more, on this trip, than i have since the end of the A's!!! but at the end of the walk...the reward is a (usually) breath-taking view.
here are the pros. 1. the weather!! dry..and chilly most of the time..but usually comfortable..esp if there's no wind 2. SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!!!!!!! like i said..we weren't expecting snow (too late into winter, it was almnost spring)..BUT..we got lucky. ok..here's the story..we were in Lijiang, and we were supposed to scale a snow mountain in the afternoon (less crowd)..but..in the morning..there was apparently a larger-than-usual amt of snowfall..and the early birds got no worms cos the authorities sealed the roads up the mountain. by the time we arrived..we were basically trying our luck..driving as far as we could..and lo and behold, arrived at the cable car place. aft which..less than half the grp took the cable car up the mountain (the rest were afraid of the chilly weather..and chilly might just be an understatement). i took the cable car up..and was rewarded with snowfall!!!! (: 3. my little snowman. he had no face..but he had arms, and a pipe, and a tall acorn hat! haha..i'll post a picture, if i can remember to, later. 4. the spectacular views....mountains, lakes, lovely fields of yellow and green that dance in the wind. wow....something i'll never forget. 5. the little kids. they were all dark (yunnan is at a pretty high altitude..so the sun ray are a lot stronger, and thus everyone there is a little darker than usual) and have obviously pink cheeks (cos the place is dry)..and the littler they were...the cuter they were! (: 6. the pretty ethnic costumes!! i even rented one!! (the skirt and head-dress were heavy!) 7. the ppl we travelled with were mostly a joy to be with!!! hahah..mostly funny ppl..and generally punctual!! (: 8. the beautiful flowers. yunnan is a flower haven cos the weather is generally good for most flowers.. 9. FIRE-CRACKERS!!!!!!!!!!! i got to play with them twice. ok..i was allowed to light the fireworks..and set a bush on fire (i was made the scapegoat cos the guy who passed me the rocket was curious to how it would blow..and made me light it) cos we didn't know how that particular display was like. hahaha..and the bell-boys came running out with a small cup of water..we were all laughing and slightly panicky..but the bell-boys seemed to encounter such incidences often. hahaha...yay!!! i wanna play with fireworks and stuff more often! (:
would i go back? definitely! (: well...meanwhile..i'm all for the Kyoto Protocol, without which..if i were to return to yunnan in the future, the weather may not be as glorious, thus no snow (God forbid!), no flowers (nooooooooooo!!!!), and larger temperature differences between days and nights.
